W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Position Boosted by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 109,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,471 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.0% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.8% during the first quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.0% in the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 0.4% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,478,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $58.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $22.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $41.82 and a 12-month high of $61.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.51.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.89.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.